Citizen engagement initiative: Community Education Committee for Children with Disability in Al-Yarmouk, initiated by Al-Yarmouk Society, (Non-profit local society) (Ghassan Shahrour)

1. Citizen engagement initiative:
Community Education Committee for Children with
Disability in Al-Yarmouk Town, initiated by Al-
Yarmouk Society, (Non-profit local society)
Questions and Answers
Proposed by Ghassan Shahrour

2. 1. What are you trying to achieve?
Intoduction:
• Citizen engagement initiative: Community Education Committee for
Children with Disability in Al-Yarmouk, initiated by Al-Yarmouk Society,
(Non-profit local society)
• In our community, many children with disability receive no education or
limited education because the local government (Department of
Education), provide limited services and families of children with
disability do not trust the available services and have more expectation.
So, many of them do not send their children to get special education.
• Al-Yarmouk Society is an active civil society in this community with
strong relations with the community and the education department and
has a number of volunteers including retired teachers and parents of
children with disability. To help overcome these challenges, it decided to
establish “Community Education Committee for Children with Disability
in Al-Yarmouk” in cooperation with the local government and other
private sectors in the community.

3. It believes that this community initiative will help to:
• Raise awareness among the local community on the
needs and rights of children with disability to get
education services as well as to mobilize local and
governmental support.
• It will also empower families of those children to get
their voice heard and be involved in the nature of
services for their children and the present challenges
that hinder the development of education services. This
active civil society involvement probably will draw more
attention from government, media and private sector in
the community.

4. 2. Who are the key players?
• The key players in this initiative:
• Al-Yarmouk Society, (Civil society organization) in
cooperation with the department of education and other
key community figures and parents of children with
disability in the community.
• Al-Yarmouk Society has served the community for many
years and conducted diverse community programs to help
the needy people and education of children.

5. • The participants are recruited from the local community
including volunteers, parents of children with disability,
persons with disability as well as representative of the
education department.
• All these stakeholders will be invited to attend and nominate
a representative to the Community Education Committee for
Children with Disability.
• This committee will conduct regular open meeting with all
stakeholder and establish its own homepage and e-group to
keep all the members informed. Moreover, the proposed
committee will connect with other similar committees and
organization in the country to share exchange and keep
informed.

6. 3.How does it work?
• It will use tech and non-tech in its work to achieve its
objectives. This will keep as much people and interested
persons involved including tech and non-tech people. Meetings
with stakeholders, visiting education centers, education
offices, and other involved or interested organizations, writing
the minutes and basic reports and others can be used.
• All will be posted on their homepage so that many can access.
Involved people can add their comments and view in this
proposed site. SMS can also be used
• Hard copies of that will be.
• It will start with contacts and invitations to interested people
including the local government, parents of children with
disability, active volunteers and community key persons and
detail them of the initiative including the problem, challenges
and objectives and expected results. Then, Al-Yarmouk Society
will invite them for general meeting using tech and non-tech
ways of communications.

7. • The general meeting will review that again and practical
steps and ways to involve all stakeholders. Strong
representation in the committee for parents, education staff,
volunteers. The chosen committee facilitated by Al-Yarmouk
Society representative, then will announced and shared.
• It will set its own objectives and plan to achieve them. -
regular meetings and sharing of information with all
members- mobilization of community resources and local
government - parents are involved, empowered and fully
active in the process. So all news and steps will be posted
online and through meetings will also be reviewed.
• Local government to wins the confidence of parents and
keep eye on the education process of children with disability
and generate more community support and resources for
the education dept.

8. 4. What are the risks and opportunities?
• Risks and opportunity and we should expect and do our
best to overcome the risks and make use of opportunities.
• Some people in the education department do not believe
in the role of community and civil society and do not trust
their important role or initiative. And this also may
happen from parents who are in despair from the
education services offered for their children with
disability.
• This is the role of civil society to study and do the home
work well to present evidence and strong information to
convince all stakeholders that this community initiative
will help all stakeholders and at the end will help disabled
children in our community to be educated, integrated, so
that our community will be inclusive.

9. • There are always opportunities that could be leveraged to
maximize the potential of our community initiative. This may
bring more community support and resources to the education
centers like funding, in kind or in cash or through volunteering and
make education more accessible and effective.
• Also it will keep community eyes on the available resources in
education and prevent draining of resources through accounting
and transparency. Such initiative will mobilize parents to get
more understanding and involvement in the education process
and follow up at home which will be positive for children with
disability.
• Such community initiative when successful will be a good
promotion for government staff and civil societies who have been
involved because they manage to make a tangible change in the
life and education of their children with disability.

10. 5. How will you know if it is successful?
• There are many indicators for success including the
number of children with disability who are enrolled in
education at this proposed community, the education
scores of those children, satisfaction of families before
and after a year, new funding or resources offered to the
education services, number and size of activities and
events organized by the community education
committees, involvement of new people, private centers
and others.
• These indicators are important because they reflect
positive change and development in the education of
children with disability in this proposed community. It
may also reflect the community involvement and
response which is very important in all aspects of
development.

11. • We can find the numbers of children with disability at
education centers before the project and after one year to
see the impact. The children scores of education and or
absence during the scholastic year and compare with the
previous year. Or we can get the number of new children
with disability who have been enrolled after the start of
the project. Establishment of a list of new resources in
kind or in cash that was collected by the community
initiative. Counting the number of volunteers involved in
the project. Also a survey can be organized to see the
opinion of families and the education staff members.
Interaction and polls on the homepage of the project can
also be used.